Learn how to format an external drive and use it for Time Machine on the Mac.
Do you have an external hard drive you’d like to use for backing up your Mac with Time Machine? How do you erase it or format it for Time Machine? You can erase it with Disk Utility, but there are a few options including format type. In this video, I show you how to select which format and erase your external drive for Time Machine.
Video TranscriptIn this video, we’re going to look at how we can format an external drive for Time Machine backups on the Mac. Let’s go to my Mac. Now, if we look in the upper right-hand corner, you’re going to see, I have an external hard drive connected to my Mac. It’s called untitled. Let’s take a look at this in another camera.You’re going to see, I have this external hard drive. This is a Western Digital external hard drive. It’s connected to my Mac. I do have an adapter here because this is a USBC Mac. So I had to use an adapter, but basically all I’m doing is just plugging in this hard drive to my Mac. And then what it does is it shows up in the upper right hand corner.
So, what I want to do is I want to erase this hard drive. This is an older drive. I want to erase it and start using it for Time Machine backups. How do we erase it? Well, the way that we do that is through disk utility. Now, before I open up disk utility, the first thing that I recommend doing is renaming this harddrive into something that is unique because then when you go and select it and disk utility, you know that you are selecting the correct drive.
You do not want to erase the wrong hardware. So we want to make sure that we select the correct tire drive in this case. I want to erase this untitled. So I’m going to rename this as backup. So I just click on it. We can see that it is blue. I hit return and now I can type in my new name. So I’m just going to call this backup.
If I had two or three backups, maybe I would call it back up one, backup to backup three. It doesn’t really matter what the name. But what we want to do is make sure that we can select that hard drive when we’re in our disk utility. So then we’re erasing the correct hard drive. So now that I have it renamed, let’s open up disk utility to do that.
What we need to do is open up our utilities folder. This is within our applications folder. There is a shortcut to open ended up when you are in your finder here. If you go over to go, what you are able to do is so. The utilities folder. When I select this, it opens up my utilities folder. Now, again, this is just in my applications folder.
So that’s another way of getting at it. Now within this utilities folder, we have disc utility. This is what we’re going to use to erase our hard drive. So now that I have it renamed, let’s go ahead and open this up and take a look at how we do this. Now. I am using Mac GWAS, Monterrey. Disc utility may look a little bit different than what you have.
If you’re using an older version of Mac S it may not look the same, but it still works the same way. All we need to do is select our hard drive and erase it. So over on the left here in my sidebar, you’re going to say, have a number of different hard drives here. We want to make sure that we select the correct one while I renamed the one that I want to erase backup.
So what I do is I select backup. It is now selected. So the first thing we do is we select our. Now, what we do is we go and erase it. I have erase in my tool bar, or what I can do is I can go up to edit in the menu bar and then select erase. So it really doesn’t matter which way you do it. So now I just select this.
We have a window that pops up and from here, what I’m able to do is rename it again and then select the form. Well, since we already renamed it, this will also confirm that we’re erasing the correct hard drive. You’re going to see it says backup that’s because I named it backup. So it’s always a good idea to name it first.
And then this confirms that you are selecting the correct tire drive again, because once we erase it, all of the data is going to be gone. So we want to make sure that we’re selecting the correct hard drive. So now I know I am selecting the correct tire drive. The next thing we need to do is we need to select.
Format here. We have a number of different formats. X is for windows. When I select this, you can see, we have different formats here. The ones that we want to work with are AP Fs or Mac OS extended Time Machine will not work with Ms. Dos or X fat. So we want to do is we want to select either Mac OSX. Or a PFS.
So what’s the difference between these two? Well, if you’re using an older version of Macko S Sierra or older, not high Sierra, just plain old Sierra, if you use an older version of Mac OS, then what you’ll do is you’ll select Mac OS extended. So this is for Sierra and older. How do you know which one you’re using?
Well, all you have to do is just go up underneath the apple menu and then go to. About the smack. When you select this, you’re able to see which one you’re using. Well, I’m using a newer OSCR Mac Monterrey. So what I need to do is I need to make sure that I select a PFS HPFS is for high Sierra and newer.
So now I just select this. We can see it’s called backup. I have the correct format selected. Now all I need to do to erase this is just click on erase. Let’s go ahead and do that. We have a window that opens up. It tells us what it’s doing. This doesn’t take that long. I have found in some cases that you may have to do this twice.
It might error out, just go back and erase it again. And in most cases it’ll work again. So now it is erasing it. We can see that it is now done. We have operation successful. Now I just click on done here. And if we look at my backup here, let’s go ahead and select. We can see it as formatted as an API fast volume.
We can now use this four Time Machine. So now that I have this all set up to use us for Time Machine, all I need to do is just go under the apple menu. Here we go over to our System Preferences. And then when we go over to Time Machine, what I’m able to do is select my disk here. You’re going to see back up.
I select. And then I select use desk after that the Mac will automatically use that disc for backup. Now, if you have multiple hard drives connected, I actually have another Time Machine here. When I select use disc, I am going to get an option here to use both. This is what I want to do. I want to use.
That way, Time Machine will alternate between the two backups every hour. It’ll alternate between the two backups. So if one of the backups fail, I have it on another hard drive. So that’s how you can format a hard drive or erase a hard drive for Time Machine. Now, if you’ve purchased this hard drive brand new, just open it up out of the box.
And most cases you won’t have to go through all of these steps, although it is pretty. Maybe you want to do it just to make sure, but you really don’t have to do this when it is brand new out of the box. The Mac will do this for you automatically. When you go and add it as a Time Machine backup here, if it is not formatted in a PFS, what the Mac will do.
Our Mac OS extended. What the Mac will do is it will format it for you automatically. So you don’t have to go through all these steps. If it’s a brand new hard drive. But if it’s an older, higher drive, maybe one that you’ve used for something else, and now you want to use it for backup. You will have to go through these steps.
Basically. You just rename your hard drive, make sure that it is unique. And then you go to your utilities folder. This is in your applications folder, open up disk utility, select your hard drive that you just renamed and then click on the right. If you’re using Macco us Sierra or older, you want to use Mac OS extended.
If you’re using Mac OS high Sierra or newer, which is probably what most people are using, then you’ll want to use a PFS, just go and erase the hard drive. And then once you do that, when you go over to your Time Machine preference, Within System Preferences, you’ll be able to select that hard drive and use it for Time Machine.
So that’s how you can erase a hard drive or format, a hard drive for Time Machine backups on the Mac.